May Reading Wrap-up:

Well, May has finally ended. It was simultaneously a long yet slow month. It consisted of: finishing my undergraduate degree, finding accommodation for my postgraduate degree, moving home for summer, and lots of reading. I also saw a production of Othello at Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre. I loved how Othello was played by a woman, and they kept the relationship between two women. It was such an interesting take on Shakespeare’s play. I would highly recommend!

Today, though, I’m only focusing on the reading.

I managed to read 8 books this month. I didn’t read too much compared to the previous months of 2018, but that’s okay. Sometimes you don’t want to read all the time (but, sometimes you do). As usual, there will be reviews for the majority of the books mentioned. They’ll be highlighted in red (or blue, depending on where you’re reading this) if they’re already published. Enjoy!

Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology:

Spoiler free | Rating: 5 out of 5 stars | Read: 1 May – 2 May, 2018

‘Before the beginning there was nothing – no earth, no heavens, no stars, no sky: only the mist world, formless and shapeless, and the fire world, always burning’

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I must admit, I was rather sceptical going into this. Back in February, I read (and didn’t enjoy) Kevin Crossley-Holland’s collection of Norse re-tellings titled The Penguin Book of Norse Myths: Gods of the Vikings. This collection had potential, but unfortunately did not deliver. CH didn’t make the stories engaging, meaning they weren’t fun to read. Instead, they were monotonous and dull. I was worried this might be a running thing with Norse re-tellings (were they all like this?). I was wrong, though. So very wrong. Gaiman, once again, managed to surprise me with his writing.

Book Buys:

To celebrate my dissertation being handed in, I decided to treat myself to some books. Recently, all I’ve been buying is nineteenth century novels, and, although I love this period, I wanted some variety. These books, in particular, are modern novels that have been sat in my wish-list for an unworthy amount of time. Not only that, but a lot of these are second-hand. Since buying my third year university books second-hand, I’ve come to realise that used books are good. They’re cheap, they’re not always damaged, and they need a loving home. I, for one, can provide that home.

These are the books I’ve picked up (the first five are new, Cauldron’s Bubble was sent me to by the author for review, and the last four are second-hand, if you’re wondering):

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